Saturday, February 28, 2015

so very excited and totally honored to be a part of the Documented Life Project as a featured artist this week. thank you, thank you Art to the 5th!

the month of february is all about layers you will love; and this particular week our challenge is to use at least five layers and our prompt is give me a high five. so let's get started.....

i am working in the dylusions's art journal and always gesso the pages to start. once i had the gesso down and dry- i started with gluing in some vintage book papers. these papers are thin and you can see i did not care if the paper was running the correct way, or covering the entire journal page. sometimes for me a layer is being able to peel back through the paper.

i then chose what colors i wanted to work with. starting with the orange and using an old credit card to scrap a thin layer of orange paint across most of the page; but, again, not all of the page.

the next layers for me was the use of dylusion's ink spray- both the pink, which i used a stencil, and white, which i simply sprayed. i also went back and peeled up loose paper that was not stuck well and had bubbled a bit from the moisture of the inks.

these next few layers were adding more paint back through my stencil- like above.

now comes my favorite part- adding a little more pop of color into my pages with the turquoise, and a few strips of washi tape. the other layers i added was the words "yes you can" and the number 5 for our layers and high five....and a few splatters.

sometime layers can be overwhelming, but, work slowly if you need to, even if that means to step away for a bit and then come back; and choose your colors you want to work with. (i have a color wheel hanging in my studio space for me to always refer back to).

i also added a zip of Adirondack butterscotch alcohol ink on the washi tape. i like how the paper of the tape absorbs the ink. then, adding a little stamping and some small paint circles for interest and detail.

i added some larger paint circles with the end of a toilet paper roll. :) those are the larger pink circles in the upper left corner, in the pic below.

i like this pic below- as you can just see the "you can, yes, you can"..... peeking through all the layers.

below you can see i added some notes in regards to this week's pages especially since this is the Documented Life Project (right?!)....i will confess,....the layers should have been easy, but, i did feel like i had to work for these pages. some come easy and sometimes the pages do not- but, always remember....yes, you can. even i have to remind myself sometimes that the point is to play; to experiment and take the time.

my end sentence says to "dream big".... listen to those inner whispers while you are playing. let the whispers blow away any self doubt that may try to dissuade you and just play; and if you have to- it is okay to not follow all of these rules.

i was feeling like my layers of layers had maybe gotten the best of me and i needed to calm all of this down a bit....so i added some white ink circles. i really liked how the white pulled the overall feeling of the page together.

here is a fuller view of the page below....the white ink blends well with the dylusion's inks and provides a softening to some of my bright colors.

welcome to my "layered" studio table. i hope you have managed to stick with me in this post....sorry it is super long! i had a great time making this though and if you made it to this point....give yourself a high five for sticking with me!! here is a close up look at my final page...

Monday, February 23, 2015

are you on twitter? do you tweet (especially about art or things you make?) i want to see what you are making......are you following me? i love sharing my work and random things....my twitter link is in the side bar.

if you are on twitter- you could participate in the twitter art exhibit. i stumbled upon the tweet with the information and signed up; but, if you still want to participate- you will need to hurry as the deadline is March 1.

here is my postcard i made....

i started with a vintage postcard and gesso. picked a few of my favorite colors and worked from there- adding a little collage, some sari ribbon and angelina fibers.

mailing off my postcard this morning as the exhibit is in Norway this year. have a little time? you could still participate.....and be sure to tweet what you make!

Thursday, February 19, 2015

posting a few more of my faces for 29 Faces this month. i must be in a blue mood, because i find myself grabbing that color in my hiflow acrylics. i love how much pigment they have. i like to put down a squirt in my general shape and hit it with a spritz of water and let it do its' thing. i followed up the face below with a new blue pencil. i thought it was a stabilo, but, it is not quite....but worked well for my purpose all the same.

i tried a face with an angle and i like parts of her below....but, her nose was a bit wonky....so in my pic- i just clipped that off for you; but, i again really like her blue hair and her lips and chin. in the photo i used as a reference- the eyes were really dark- like black and you could not discern more detail in the eyes. not completely sure i did the shadows right to portrait that though for you.

i had blotted off left over ink from something else onto this page and decided to doodle at least part of a face on it. i like the eye and lips; and her earring. okay....i may be reaching just a bit on this one....

don't you just love Dina Wakley? i do! almost everything she does. i love her girl on her paint tubes and wanted to use her as inspiration. i love how my hair turned out. i was thinking my face could be a bit stronger, but, i don't normally gesso over any of the faces i have done, so i may have to try this one again- but, i do love this hair.

happy thursday to you!

P.S......i have something big "cooking" for saturday morning so be sure to stop back for the news!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

faces....i find i really like to people watch. to look at the faces and draw. this tends to happen when i am in meetings. i either draw the person speaking, or someone close by that is interesting- maybe it is the angle, or the lighting that makes this person interesting- but, whatever it is, i find myself doodling.

i have played along with the past 2 seasons of 29 faces and have stretched and grown with each time. i find that some days are easy and other finds me almost completely frustrated wondering why yesterday was easy and today is not......but, whatever the reasons, i have come to understand that you must simply push through this and know, that each day is NOT going to be your best. in fact, some days, you may even question what the heck you are doing; but, in the end, you need to turn the page in that art journal, and start another one.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

the challenge for january 24 was writing. this challenge seemed relatively easy once i got my background made. i knew ahead of time exactly what i was going to write about- writing can be very therapeutic. our daughter is a senior this year and has been fortunate to experience some life lessons (good ones?....) this year as she has been maneuvering through her sports seasons.

the challenge for january 31 was underpaper. this one was totally my speed as i normally keep all of my underpaper. so when i started this project, i had quite a few to choose from. I did the background again first, and then, dug through my stash of papers looking for just the right one; coming up with the combination below.

Monday, February 2, 2015

i am going to be honest here....i have had some technical difficulties as of late. apparently i downloaded something "really good" due to a quick click of the mouse... so i am hoping i am back online without any difficulties.....

i let the inks run and blend with the damp gesso to help create this background; writing the quote to remind myself that today (or any day...) is always a good day for art... to begin... to create.... something. listen to those little whispers.... and do whatever may make you happy.

i loved the color runs on these pages, and these pages were really about the creating something. about whatever my little creative heart felt at that moment. which apparently was with paper scraps and washi tape and pencil doodles.